Start your season -- Women's basketball
by Courtney Young, drkoop.com

Chelsea Whittaker wipes the sweat from her brow onto her red sweatband as she shoots free throws during practice. She has conditioned her body and played summer league to prepare for her senior season at Skyline High School in Dallas. As a highly recruited high school female basketball player, she tries not to even consider an injury as a possibility.

But it is.

How can she, as well as other female athletes from junior high to college who are about to start the basketball season, avoid an injury?

Conditioning

Although many injuries that result from the physical nature of basketball cannot be anticipated, there are preventive measures that female athletes can take. Muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance allow athletes to compete in the game of basketball, but this conditioning also keeps them from injuring themselves.

David Bowdoin, athletic trainer at Waxahachie (Texas) High School, suggests that there are general guidelines that will enable players to perform well and will limit some of the injuries they may face. Bowdoin encourages players to take good care of their bodies and suggests that athletes should:

• Stretch
• Rest
• Drink fluids
• Replace electrolytes
• Be on the right nutritional program

Jody Runge, head coach of the University of Oregon women's basketball team, believes in the importance of general conditioning.

"We train the entire body," Runge said. "We lift weights three times a week, with an emphasis on developing power, strength and muscular endurance. We also condition three times a week to develop efficiency of movement."

In the fast-paced game of basketball, many coaches and trainers now want their players to build fast twitch fibers, the muscle tissue that enhances speed and quickness.

"We've gone away from long-distance running and training slow twitch fibers," Runge said. "You may be in decent aerobic condition, but you're not in condition to go hard and play at game speed."

Instead of running at a controlled pace, Oregon players jump rope, do agility drills and work on lateral movements at full speed.

"We're training for fast, explosive movements," Runge said.

Explosive movements still can lead to disaster, but well-conditioned players' bodies are more likely to absorb the jumps and jolts that can lead to injury.

Flexibility

In order to absorb these shocks, the muscles and joints must be "warmed up" and prepared for the movements and activities of a basketball game. Stretching is the most recommended way to prepare the body. Athletic trainers also recommend jogging a few laps to increase circulation before stretching.

"After the muscles are warm, the stretching loosens up the muscles and makes them more elastic and prepares them to endure the workout," said Cassandra McCurdy, head women's basketball coach at Skyline High School in Dallas.

Following a training program to increase and maintain flexibility helps prevent cramps and muscle pulls, but it also helps the muscles to compensate for the awkward positions an athlete may be in during a basketball game.

Kristin Lage, associate athletic trainer at Texas Christian University, suggests that there is another method that helps athletes compensate for awkward footing.

"In addition to strength and flexibility training, we try to teach people how to sense their position," Lage said. "It is a basic agility skill, but it is easily overlooked."

Lage advocates the concept of proprioception, which is the body's ability to sense its position and the muscles' ability to compensate for an unbalanced position.

She teaches this skill to the women players gradually. The first step is to stand on one leg with arms out and eyes open for a minute. When the athlete masters this, she begins to eliminate things that help counter balance so that eventually the athlete stands on one leg with arms crossed and eyes closed on an uneven surface while trying to catch balls. Placing athletes in unbalanced situations helps teach their muscles how to respond to these positions in a game.

"The muscles need to be taught to fire during the twists and turns and leaps and bounds of basketball," Lage said. "They have to learn to respond to all these positions"

Equipment

Even with extensive conditioning and flexibility training, there are situations that cannot be avoided. However, there are types of equipment that will prevent or lessen the severity of an injury.

Ankle injuries are the most commonly reported injury for NCAA women's basketball players, followed by knee and foot injuries. During the 1998-99 season, 5.7 injuries occurred for every 1,000 athletes playing or practicing. Braces and proper footwear help prevent these injuries from being more common.

Many programs encourage all their players to wear ankle braces and those with prior knee problems to wear knee braces.

"It is a common perception that ankle braces take over for the muscles and then the muscles get weaker, but we don't agree," Lage said. "Braces can take what would be a three to four week injury to an eight to 10 day injury.

"Don't immobilize your joint, but try to give it some support so that your ankle isn't allowed to go to the extreme that could create serious sprains," Lage said.

Carrie Beach, (ATC and LAT) athletic trainer at Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas, also encourages ankle braces and recommended braces over taping.

"The stability and support lasts in a brace, but tape loosens during the game," Beach said. She recommended a brace that has built-in support and laces or straps.

Another important piece of equipment, the shoe, is often overlooked or the quality is compromised in the interest of economy.

"There is chatter among trainers that shoes are more cosmetic rather than functional for our players," Lage said. She said that it is difficult to customize one shoe design for her players' different types of feet, but suggested that athletes consider their foot type when buying shoes.

"Recognize what kind of foot you have - flat foot, wide foot, low or high arch - and get shoes that accommodate your foot," she said. "It should be intimate enough to house your foot, have shock-absorbing qualities and the arch should not create an arch you don't have and it should support the one you do have."

Disclaimer:
The information, including opinions and recommendations, contained in this website is for educational purposes only. Such information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. No one should act upon any information provided in this website without first seeking medical advice from a qualified medical physician.